The art of avoiding the credit crunch

In July, the chairman of the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers, Richard Fuld and his wife Kathy consigned 20 works on paper - including a 1951 de Kooning drawing - to Christie's for sale. Cleverly, they secured a guarantee on the works of about $20m. That means they make that sum of money as a minimum, whatever happens to the bidding when they go under the hammer in November. Remarkable good fortune to have made the move before Lehman Brothers went under in September - indeed, before the banking crisis really kicked off. Art market observer and author Sarah Thornton, speaking at a literary event at the Southbank Centre in London last week, was the relayer of this interesting piece of information.